What is the neurological level of a spinal cord injury?
Neurological level of injury (NLI): The NLI refers to the most caudal segment of the spinal cord with normal sensory and antigravity motor function on both sides of the body, provided that there is normal (intact) sensory and motor function rostrally.
What is motor function in spinal cord injury?
Motor commands initiated in the brain travel through descending pathways in the spinal cord to effector motor neurons before reaching target muscles. Damage to these pathways by spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in paralysis below the injury level.
What are the levels noted with spinal cord injury?
There are four sections of the spinal cord that impact the level of spinal cord injury: cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral.
What are the two levels of impact associated with a spinal cord injury?
If all feeling (sensory) and all ability to control movement (motor function) are lost below the spinal cord injury, your injury is called complete. Incomplete. If you have some motor or sensory function below the affected area, your injury is called incomplete. There are varying degrees of incomplete injury.
What is motor level?
Motor level is defined as the level at which the key muscle innervated by the segment has at least 3/5 of its normal strength. Sensory level is defined as the lowest spinal cord level that still has normal pinprick and touch sensation.
What is a good ASIA score?
A normal unilateral sensory examination consists of 28 dermatomes each with 2/2 points for light touch and 2/2 points for pinprick, yielding 112 total points. A total score of 224 bilaterally is a fully normal sensory examination.
What is motor incomplete spinal cord injury?
ASIA C = Motor Incomplete. Motor function is preserved below the neurological level, and more than half of key muscle functions below the single neurological level of injury have a muscle grade less than 3.
What are spinal levels?
There are 7 cervical (neck), 12 thoracic (chest), 5 lumbar (back), and 5 sacral (tail) vertebrae. The spinal cord sends roots that exit the spinal canal between vertebral bodies. Spinal cord segmental levels are defined by their roots but are not always situated at the corresponding vertebral levels.
What is the most common level of spinal cord injury?
SCI typically affects the cervical level of the spinal cord (50%) with the single most common level affected being C5 (1). Other injuries include the thoracic level (35%) and lumbar region (11%).
How do you classify a level of spinal cord injury?
Topic Overview
- Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can be classified based on function (how much feeling and movement you have) or on where the damage occurred.
- The spinal cord is surrounded by protective rings of bone called vertebrae.
- The higher the damage occurs on the spinal cord, the more of the body is affected.
What is the highest level of spinal cord injury?
High-Cervical Nerves (C1 – C4)
- Most severe of the spinal cord injury levels.
- Paralysis in arms, hands, trunk and legs.
- Patient may not be able to breathe on his or her own, cough, or control bowel or bladder movements.
- Ability to speak is sometimes impaired or reduced.